Until recently, an aircraft and the stores which it carried were typically developed independently of each other or were developed exclusively for each other. This practice usually resulted in unique aircraft/store electrical interconnection requirements, the general proliferation of overall store interface designs, low levels of interoperability, and costly aircraft modifications to achieve required store utilization flexibility. Trends in store technology toward more complex store functions requiring increasing amounts of avionics data and control information from aircraft systems were predicted to lead to a multitude of aircraft/store interfacing problems.
In late 2003, the U.S. Department of Defense promulgated MIL-STD-1760 revision D (hereinafter referred to MIL-STD-1760). The stated goal of MIL-STD-1760 is to develop aircraft that are compatible with a wide variety of stores and stores that are compatible with a wide variety of aircraft. MIL-STD-1760 accomplishes this goal by defining a standard electrical (and fiber optic) interconnection system for aircrafts and stores. This interconnection system is based on the use of a standard connector, a standard signal set and a standard serial digital interface for control, monitor, and release of stores.
Newly produced tactical aircraft are internally wired with the MIL-STD-1553 databus for coupling to the MIL-STD-1760 standard weapons interface. Modern smart weapons such as the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) are designed to communicate with the aircraft via such interface to obtain control, monitor and release information from the aircraft in order to carry out mission critical operations.
Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of legacy stores in use today are not properly equipped to interface with the MIL-STD-1760 interface of modern tactical aircraft. One such legacy store is the Maverick family of missiles. Maverick missiles are one of the most versatile, precision strike missiles of all time. The Maverick's versatility, is in part, due to its ability to be fired from a number of aircraft against a variety of targets such as field fortifications, bunkers, hangarettes, tanks, armored personnel carriers, parked aircraft, radar or missile sites, port facilities, and ships, including high-speed patrol craft. Maverick's versatility is further enhanced by its guidance capabilities, which include a combination of TV, laser, and infrared guidance systems that allow for strategic operations to be conducted in day and night operations in a variety of atmospheric conditions.
Since the Maverick missile was developed during the early to mid-1970's, before the onslaught of digital electronics, Mavericks, like many legacy stores, are based on an analog system that requires extensive wiring, unique dedicated hardware and software, and specialty video processing circuitry in the host aircraft to fully integrate the store to the aircraft. Thus, a shortcoming associated with analog stores is that some type of interface is needed to enable the analog store to be used in connection with modern aircraft, while at the same time maintaining legacy store compatibility with legacy aircraft.
In view of the aforementioned shortcomings associated with the interface between legacy stores and modern aircraft, there is a strong need in the art for a dual interface between legacy stores and aircraft to overcome the problems set forth above. Moreover, there is a strong need in the art to maintain legacy store compatibility with legacy aircraft.